March 21, 2012

The tandem of freshman Olivia Holmes and junior Macy Franklin was lethal on the soccer field Wednesday.

The duo scored five of St. Stephensâ€™ six goals, earning the Lady Indians a conference rivalry game victory against Fred T. Foard, 6-1, in Hickory.

â€śWe looked like a pretty good team tonight,â€ť said Indians coach Chuck Davis. â€śWe put our passes together well and finished. It took us a little while to take a shot, but once we did, it was nice.â€ť

St. Stephens (6-1-1, 2-0-0) raced out to a 5-0 halftime lead behind Holmes and Franklin.

March 21, 2012

CHAPEL HILL â€” North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall is out of his cast following surgery on his broken right wrist.

In a text message to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Marshall's father Dennis said his son is wearing a removable splint now. Marshall said on Twitter he had shed the cast earlier in the afternoon.

Dennis Marshall said it was still too early to know if his son could play against Ohio on Friday in the NCAA tournament's round of 16 in St. Louis. He said his son "hasn't been ruled out, but not cleared to play either."

March 21, 2012

A Maiden Elementary School classroom went live on Wednesday with the Discovery Channel.

Students in Aleshia Abernathyâ€™s fourth-grade class all participated in a live episode of Discovery Educationâ€™s Seasonal Science Stream that is broadcast to more than 30 classrooms throughout the nation and around the globe.

The monthly stream is sent out live to classrooms as an educational aid that aims to blend interactive, hands-on activities with digital, pre-recorded slides, said Brad Fountain, director of instructional implementation for Discovery Education.

March 21, 2012

Under the arched roof of First Presbyterian Church on Main Avenue, a group of Newton seniors bounced around a large yellow balloon.

It was a game of improvised volleyball â€” one of the many good-fun competitions and activities that some Seniors Morning Out (SMO) members participate in five days a week.

On Wednesday, Newton SMO coordinator Robin Curtis tossed the balloon into the group, and they slapped it around a bit. Some of the seniors floated the â€śvolleyballâ€ť up into the air, but most rocketed the balloon across the room, smacking one another in the face.

March 21, 2012

Police say unidentified suspects broke into the Bunker Hill Exxon in Catawba and stole $9.50 worth of pennies. The thieves did not steal anything else, according to a Catawba County Sheriffâ€™s Office incident report.

The crooks cut a telephone line, damaged an alarm box and broke an exterior glass window for the $10 heist.

March 21, 2012

Donations of time, money and supplies are needed for an April event that will provide a variety of care for the region's homeless veterans.

Veteran organizations, medical personnel, social service representatives and community leaders from the Hickory area will hold a â€śStand Downâ€ť event to provide services for homeless veterans, needy veterans and any other community members in need of help April 20.

March 21, 2012

Catawba County government approved almost $300,000 for repairs at schools in the Newton-Conover and Hickory Public school systems. One project will replace HVAC systems at Shuford Elementary, while another will repair a sinkhole near the baseball complex at Hickory High.

In other education news, the team of spellers from South Newton Elementary won the sixth annual Red Hot Spelling Bee presented by The Observer News Enterprise. The fun night of team-spelling raised funds for Newton-Conover Education Foundation.